Jazzing Up a Cheese Platter

By

Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

Updated Oct. 31, 2012 7:23 p.m. ET

There tends to be a constant at parties of all types and sizes: the cheese platter.

But just because it's ubiquitous doesn't mean it has to be predictable. Laura Werlin, the James Beard Award-winning author of five books on cheese, believes that when there are interesting cheeses at a party, the platter "often plays a starring...